Son of Tangerines (sampler)
by Oshidoshi
Summary: (This is a sample of the first 2 chapters) William Tangerine is the first of his kind: a boy born from an overgrown tangerine. However he is not the only one. There are other Fruit Humans, and a cunning banana named Albert wants to use them for his sinister plan of dominance over humanity. (Story #1 in the Orangeworld Chronicles)
1. Prologue: Advanced Intelligence

The banana was being watched by hundreds of eyes.

Cameras displayed this to millions of people.

And millions more watched it through the Internet.

For the first time in history, fruit was given intelligence.

This is not an ordinary banana. It had developed a brain the size of a walnut on it's stem. It communicated telepathically, and the great minds at Perch Tech developed a speaker device so it could tell the world it's thoughts and wishes. The speaker was like a wristband wrapped delicately around the fruit. The world was in anticipation to hear it speak.

In a gutteral, slightly garbled computer voice, it's thoughts were transferred through the speakers for the world to hear, "We, the Fruit Union, see that your flesh is crucial. We demand our short lives be extended by the use of your science before we expire." it said.

The aging minds at the Fruit Union had requested their leader speak to the great minds of humanity and it's leaders. Right now, the request of this banana was being discussed by people worldwide.

A young scientist stood. He was in his late twenties, had large frame glasses, short hair and a brown plaid short sleeve shirt. His nametag said "Bard."

Bard spoke out, "so you're requesting we extend the life of fruit?" he asked.

The banana simply replied, "yes."

"Why should we?"

That voice.

That one voice of defiance.

Everyone wanted her to shut up.

To question the request of the banana was the same as kicking death in the crotch and thinking he'll let you go.

"Why should we extend your lives?"

That voice belonged to a blonde named Crissy Sanders. She was a well known Fruit Rebellionist.

"Why?" the banana replied.

She pressed on, "Yes, Albert. Why?"

"You receive the joy of living your lives for the longest, whereas we see our loved ones come and go."

"I didn't know fruits could love," she joked in a serious tone.

"We deserve to enjoy the presence of our loved ones just like you." said Albert, the anger clearly heard through the speaker's emotion filters.

"Fruits and Fruit Humans cannot have their lives extended," said Crissy, "it is impossible to alter the fruit beyond it's lifetime."

Albert was just a yellow banana, healthy but slowly aging. To Crissy, it felt like she was talking to a man that failed to see. Albert said, "if there's one thing you humans have taught me, it is that nothing is impossible."

* * *

_**Originally published in The Dragonboys, and republished in The Society On Da Run: Dragons and Cicadas. Licensed CC-BY-NC. Fan art, music, stories videos and games are encouraged.**_


	2. 1: Birth

_7 Months Earlier, Griendell Sweetwater, Kansas_

Willhelmia, also called Subject A47 by her sleepy creator, was the largest of her kind. She was a tangerine, genetically altered in the shed of one Rodrigo Perrez and another man named Joppy Bull some twenty years ago. She was their answer to the low food rates, if a scientist would approve of her. Their wish was strong back then. Even now, after the death of Rodrigo, the wish was strong with Goopy. Now Joppy is a grandfather and Willhelmia rests in his mini garden of pumpkins. Anyone passing by would mistake her for a ginormous thousand-pound pumpkin. Her size used to be a mystery to Joppy. Nowadays he goes along with it, seeing her increasing size as a miracle that any scientist would gladly distribute to the poor. It wasn't until last week that he discovered she was pregnant. She was seventeen years overdue.

Joppy was sitting outside his porch, rocking back and forth in his creaky rocking chair. He was wrapped in his blanket to shield himself from the autumn cold. He kept his eyes on the pumpkin garden. Every ten minutes or so his daughter, Magura, would come out and check on him.

She leaned out the door, seeing him in the same place he was earlier.

"You doing okay, dad?" she asked.

He nodded and said, "yes, honey."

"Okay. Call me if you need me." she said.

He thought about that.

He never really needed her that much except on days when the depression bug would kick in. She was like his emotional sponge on those days.

In the garden, amidst all the pumpkins, there was Willhelmia, whom was surrounded by several other tangerines so she wouldn't be lonely. She was big and swollen. One half of her—the top half—was nice and plump. The second half—the bottom—was flat, making it appear she had been sat on. Willhelmia looked like an orange beanbag chair. Sprouting from her body were several vines and leafs that connected to the soil, feeding nourishment to her enlarged seeds…or were they? One would think those vines were originating from her core and sprouting out of her head. That was slightly true. Only one of her vines did not originate from her core. They originated from the unborn life inside her, sprouted out her head and connected to her seed, receiving the nourishment she gave to it.

The moon blanketed it's light on the tiny garden and Joppy's house. The rest of the neighborhood did not receive this light. It was on this very night that Willhelmia decided it was the right time to unleash the bounty of her seventeen year pregnancy.

The vine that connected to the unborn's naval had shriveled and died, still connected to it's host. With the natural anesthesia cut off, it began to open it's eyes.

"Welcome to the world, my sweet organic," a sweet heavenly female voice seemed to say.

It turned over, making it's way out of the large wound on Willhelmia's flattened half. The boy emerged, rolling out of the juicy innards of the queen tangerine.

Everything was cold-so cold!

The world was blurry and he was hearing strange noises that wouldn't stop! He was so cold. He brought his legs closer to his chest, shivering as everything came pounding into his head.

What is this?

What am I feeling?

Where am I?

What is that...that...

* * *

Joppy squinted to see through his old square-frame glasses. He thought he saw something in the gardens.

Wait...

An arm.

Joppy's eyes did not deceive him. He sees an arm sticking up.

He sprung from his chair and grabbed his trusty shotgun he calls Barry.

"Damn kids better not be stealing my fruit." he said as he marched on.

What he found when he entered his garden was not some ill-mannered teenager like he expected. What he found was a teenage boy, naked and shivering in the cold.

"What the hell," Gobby muttered.

He gently dropped to his knees to examine the boy. He guessed he was fifteen or sixteen, and he had a very strong orangey scent. He was smelling like tangerines!

No, not his precious Will! Joppy looked to Willhelmia and saw her innards asunder on the soil. His heart began to palpitate as he saw his beloved life work defamed in such a way.

"Will..." he whispered.

"Will," the boy whispered back, thinking that was his name.

Joppy's heart became enraged.

"What did you do to Willhelmia?" he screamed to the boy, nudging the barrel of his shotgun at the boy's head.

"What did you do to her?" he shouted again.

"Please..." the boy whispered.

"Answer me!"

"Loud..." he whispered again.

"Answer me or I swear to god I'll-"

"STOP!"

Joppy drew back at the boy's shout.

"Stop..." he mentally searched for the right words, "stop being loud."

"Dad? Oh my god, dad, what are you doing?"

That was Magura's panicky voice. She was rushing towards him and flailing her arms about. She nudged the gun away and stood in front of the confused teenager.

"Are you trying to shoot this boy?" she asked.

"Sweetie, he killed Willhelmia!" said Joppy.

Magura saw the dismembered tangerine and thought, 'this is why he tried to kill him?'

The more she focused on it, the more clearer the scenario became. It was an absurd thought, but it seemed possible.

"Didn't you say Willhelmia was pregnant?"

"Cold," the boy shuddered.

For a moment he had forgotten the boy was there. His thoughts started swarming.

Could this boy be Willhelmia's son?

Impossible.

She was pregnant with seeds, not a human boy!

"oh my god."

Joppy quickly threw his blanket off himself and covered the shivering boy.

"Take him inside! Put him in Daniel's room!"

By this time Magura's daughter, Fauna, had come out of the house with her phone in hand. When she looked up from the screen, she was astonished to see the two carrying a boy into the house.

"Mom, who is that?" she asked.

"Not now, Fa. We gotta get him in the house," said Magura as she and Joppy struggled with carrying the boy.

He covered his eyes as they began to pulsate in pain from the bright porch light.

The inside of their house wasn't as cluttered as the outside, but it was brighter. There was the living room (complete with couches, television, a dining table by the windows) and a staircase that led to the rooms upstairs.

Besides the kitchen, there was only one room downstairs. That room belonged to Magura's son, Daniel, and his study buddy, Clarissa. To Magura's well trained eye, they didn't look like "study buddies."

Magura and Joppy gently laid the boy on their couch. Fauna, still amazed, said, "where did he come from?"

"Willhelmia," Joppy said proudly.

He looked to Fauna and said, "go get your brother. We'll need his room for tonight."

When Daniel and Clarissa came out, Daniel began asking questions.

"who is that?"

"I don't know. He doesn't have a name yet," Said Joppy as he became entranced by the boy. His beloved Willhelmia had made history! At the same time he was happy and sad. What has become of Willhelmia? He hasn't checked her vital signs since yesterday morning. Did he and Rodrigo's wish to end world hunger die with the birth of this boy?

"where will he stay?" asked Daniel.

Joppy replied, "In your room."

"what?"

Magura said to Clarissa, "hey, Coffee, help me carry this guy."

Magura always called Clarissa "coffee" because of her African American ethnicity. Clarissa didn't care, she never let trivial things bother her.

As they carried him to the room, Clarissa muttered, "he's kinda cute."

"Hey, keep your eyes on my boy only," said Magura, adding hints of intimidation in her voice.

"Mrs. Wellington, your son and I aren't dating. We're just study buddies," said Clarissa in an understanding tone.

Magura scoffed, "yeah, sure."

Danny's room was small and messy. The bed was unmade and in shambles, the floor was (rather messily) decorated with clothes and underwear, and the walls were full of with posters of heavy metal bands. Clarissa would often order Danny to clean his room, a job Magura abandoned when he turned 15. The lamp's lightbulb was dimming, signaling the end of the light.

"What's your name?" asked Clarissa.

"Name?" wondered the newborn boy, still smelling naturally fragrant with the juice of tangerines.

"It's what we call you, dear." said Magura.

The boy shielded his eyes from the light, uttering, "He called me Will."

"William?" asked Clarissa, "do you want that to be your name?"

"Yes."

"William."

Clarissa loved the name. She thought of it as noble.

"Where did you come from?" she asked.

"Willhelmia," he said, remembering the name of his mother.

"The Tangerine?" she was bewildered by the thought.

"Yes."

Clarissa put on her best smile, which was sweet and beaming, "Well, I guess we'll have to call you William Tangerine."

Her smile made him smile, and for the first time he felt the feeling of delight. His very first emotion is delight. Delight, delight, delight! William is happy.


End file.
